Friday, June 7, 2013

Resource and Benefits offered from Life Celebration

Life Celebration Resource and Benefit Highlights
 

Benefit Coordinator

Staff and families benefit from this relationship that provides an additional resource to assist in providing the things that people need most, when they need them. This foundational process which helps identify personal planning goals, available resources and options that make the most sense by assessing each individual’s needs. This program includes:
  • Complimentary Estate Planning Guide
  • Household Financial Worksheet
  • Access to Wills, Living Wills, Advance Directives, P.O.A.’s
  • and more...
 
Medicaid Planning

Business Office Managers and Consumers may benefit from Medicaid Planning with this partnered program with Senior Planning Services aimed at maximizing the outcome for the applicant and reducing pending days and expense associated with applications for providers.
 

Irrevocable Trust (Final Expense)

We make funding a Medicaid compliant Irrevocable Trust easy. This can be accomplished as part of a Medicaid planning or as a smart way to ensure that every individual under care has adequate funding for future final expenses.
 

Veteran Benefits

We offer assistance to veterans and their families that include Health and Well-being, Financial and Funeral and Burial Benefits. More comprehensive financial planning is available through an accredited planner.
 

Property Assistance

Staff and residents, especially in our Independent and Assisted Living Communities benefit from assistance in managing personal property and real estate.
 

Financial and Estate Planning

While this program does not employ attorneys or CFP’s, we can help connect individuals to these approved resources when appropriate. Certified Financial Planners can advise on strategies that assist with achieving goals of providing excellent care options and preserving assets. These options may include Trusts, Insurance, Annuities or a variety of financial instruments that best meet a client’s needs.
 

Companion Animal Care

Staff and Residents benefit from re-homing services that help pets find a new home when an individual transitions into care. Through this partnered program, we can access Pet Therapy, Pet Trusts, and more.
 

Funeral Planning

Participants can access a national Life Celebration network of funeral providers that offer preferred pricing and a focus on personalized care.
 

Family Support

Caregiver support, bereavement support, children’s support and pet loss support groups can be accessed through this program.
 

Inspiring Life Programs

Make today your best day. This partnered program with Life Choice Hospice helps create an exceptional experience for hospice patients.

Monday, April 8, 2013

Arrangements posted for Michael Goodwin

 A celebration of his life will be held on Wednesday from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. and Thursday morning from 9:00 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. 


The celebrations will be at:
John F. Givnish Funeral Home
10975 Academy Rd.
Philadelphia


The funeral for Capt. Goodwin will be held Thursday at 12:00 pm at:
St. Michael's Lutheran Church
2139 E. Cumberland St.
Philadelphia


He will be buried afterward at Hillside Cemetery in Roslyn, Pa.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions in Goodwin's memory can be sent to:
Firefighters Widow Fund c/o Local 22
415 N. 5th St.
Philadelphia, Pa. 19123 


Anyone wishing to share memories of Goodwin can visit www.lifecelebration.com and post details about his life.

Friday, April 5, 2013

Benefit for Lucy Brown



RESTAURANT/NIGHT OUT BINGO
APRIL 20, 2013  2PM – 4PM
EAST BRANDYWINE FIRE COMPANY
2096 BONDSVILLE RD, DOWNINGTOWN, PA
All proceeds go to The Lucy Brown Benefit Fund
 
$20 for 20 games of bingo.

Prize will be gift certificates of $25 or more to local restaurants
50/50 Raffle

$5 Bingo games worth bigger prizes
Refreshments will be available. No alcohol please.
Call Hope Veterinary Specialists at 610-296-2099 and ask for Dawn, Margaret or Laurie with any questions.
 
Lucy was born on November 20, 2012. She is the beautiful daughter of Katie Brown, one of the Internal Medicine Nurses at Hope Veterinary Specialists.  She was born with fluid around her lungs, and by the end of January, Lucy needed to be placed on a ventilator to help her breathe.  Since that time, Lucy has been hospitalized at CHOP with a diagnosis of idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy. This is a condition in which her heart is unable to pump adequately, leading to heart failure.  She has had a multitude of tests performed and still shows the strength of a true fighter.  Lucy has been able to get off of the ventilator; however, she did not respond to her oral medications as well as they had hoped.  She is currently being maintained on IV heart medications and she is receiving nutrition through a feeding tube.  She was placed on the heart transplant list and was accepted as top priority.  Lucy is surrounded by the love of her parents, Katie and Jared, and their extended family day and night, rendering it difficult for them to work at this time.  Please find it in your hearts to help this amazing family by making a donation to the Lucy Brown Benefit Fund.  These donations are not tax deductable.  Any donation would be greatly appreciated in helping little Lucy and her family overcome this difficult battle.              
Thank you for all your support!

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Langhorne Pet Fair Sponsors

The Langhorne Pet Fair is proud to announce our sponsors so far for the event:

  • Happyfish
  • Heather Davis Pet Treats
  • Paw Prints
  • Snipes Farm
  • Merchant Match
  • Bath Fitter
  • Kitchens
  • J-Dogs (Pet Fair food vendor)
  • Wet Nose Rescue
  • Renewal  by Anderson
  • Scentsy
  • Chase's Babies
  • Tucker Chiropractic
  • Woodcrafts by Art
  • Dr. Rosies Remedies
  • DollyDoggy
More sponsors are needed.  Please contact Mark Arrington at arrington@verizon.net if you are interested.

Please join us for the event - Saturday May 11th.

Langhorne Pet Fair - Special Thanks

Langhorne Pet Fair wants to give a special thanks to their $250 Top Dog Sponsors and $100 Cats Meow Sponsors.

 The $250 Top Dog Sponsors are:

  1. Affordable Party Rentals, who donated two large tents
  2. VSEC Veterinary Emergency Specialty Care
  3. Flowers Mill Animal Hospital

The $100 Cats Meow Sponsors are:

  1. Merchant Match
  2. Neshaminy Kids Club
  3. First Federal of Bucks County
 Also, J-Dog Food Vendor will be the Food vendor !!
 
 
More vendors are needed.  Please contact Mark Arrington at arrington@verizon.net if you are interested.
 
Please join us for the event - Saturday, May 11th.

Friday, January 4, 2013

Continuity of Care


from The Journal, NFDA Publication

October 11, 2012 • Vol. 3 No. 41
This Issue:
Committing to Culture Change....................................................... P. 1
OSHA Issues Penaties, Citations Against N.C. Funeral Home.... P. 8
The Notebook................................................................................... P. 9
From the Editor’s Desk.................................................................. P. 10

Committing to Culture Change
Life Celebration Creates Alliance with Nursing Home,
Hospice to Re-imagine the Continium of Care

Explaining the Process

Ken Neeld Jr.,  has been working with healthcare organizations
since 2007 to develop an experience based
patient care model, currently chairs the group
responsible for the development of “Adding Life to
Years,” a Life Celebration platform created for/ with Genesis
and another hospice program.

Neeld explains the process that initiates a discussion
about funeral arrangements in a nursing home (SNF),
which is different than the conversation initiated with patients
(consumers) in hospice. "Simply, the conversation about "buying" a funeral is part of the business process for nursing homes and more financially based. The conversation in hospice is more social service driven, as hospice tends not to manage/ advise on the finances of their patients."

Generally, what can we observe about our aging population?
A basic recognition that there is a spike in both the
aging population, and corresponding spike in the applicants
for Medicaid is important. The body that regulates
Medicare and Medicaid guidelines: the Center for Medicare
and Medicaid Services (CMS) established the ability
for consumers to fund an Irrevocable Trust to pay for future
end-of-life expenses.While helpful to a previous aging population, it is critical for today's aging population to retain some of their funds for future expenses.

Why do nursing homes ask residents to “buy” a funeral?
The process of entering skilled care typically initiates a
cascade of events. Simply, those events are expensive for a
mostly senior population. Beyond clinical care, an important
function of the nursing home is to secure payments
and maintain a continuity of payer-source.

As an individual enters an SNF or nursing home, they
will experience one of several outcomes: discharge after
(average) of about two or three months (if a rehab patient) or admission
as a long stay resident. The vast majority of individuals
that transition to a long stay resident end up
depleting assets- with many long stay residents now converted
to Medicaid as their payer-source. 

Why is a pre-paid funeral trust sometimes designated as Irrevocable?
The Irrevocable Trust in fact was established as a
preservation tool to allow consumers to retain a predetermined
amount for future expenses which include the
funeral as they now had sufficiently depleted funds to
qualify for Medicaid. In effect, the conversation about
a funeral is really a conversation from the nursing home
that says “ We want to be sure that you have allocated sufficient
funds for end of life expenses that include a funeral-
especially considering you will likely be out of money
in x months”. This is part of the Medicaid planning process,
and thus a question on the application because  it is
really a CMS directive first and NOT a selling tool for the funeral industry first.

So what happened?
Respectful of us all in funeral care- a funeral
is an “unsought” good vs a “sought” good that consumers actively want to purchase. This really then begs the questions: 1) Do you distinguish between consumer needs and
desires, and 2) how much is too much to pay for something
you don’t really want?

Is this a problem or opportunity for funeral service?
Unfortunately, senior healthcare providers share the
same consumer perception of the funeral industry as the
rest of the country- which is negative. Interestingly, healthcare is also driven by "functional or needs-based" systems, much like the funeral business has been "directed by the FTC and State Rules and Regs. The challenge is to go beyond what "we" are made to do, and re-assess what families, consumers, patients, residents would LIKE for us to be. The answer I am finding is that often it is the very opposite of what we have been doing.

Most unfortunate is that consumers have proven, better outcomes and experiences
when those segments of industry responsible for care work together. This is the foundation of the
Mayo Clinic model. The foundation of Enhancing PatientCare by Life Celebration redefines the “Care Team” to include all disciplines within nursing, hospice and funeral- but with re-defined roles.

The opportunity lies in those providers
that can transform themselves to add  value to the industry
segments “upstream” – hospice, nursing homes, in-home
care providers, etc. Simply, we must convert our offerings
from “unsought” to a “highly sought after” offering which
I assure you can be done but only by truly understanding what your customer truly "values".
MBJ